Yesterday I picked up my fabric from the SVDP Wellness Center, which will be the recipient of the event's fundraising.

"The Ozanam Wellness Center began in 2009 to more effectively and
compassionately meet the needs of the most vulnerable individuals in our
City who are struggling with addiction and mental health issues. By
combining the "best practices" of spirituality and clinical methods, we
are addressing the whole person who is suffering, and empowering our
guests to make positive changes for ongoing recovery. The overarching
vision of the Wellness Center is to foster right relationship: justice,
love and peace among all who pass through our doors, with a special
focus on those who are struggling with addiction to drugs and/or alcohol
and mental health issues."

I ended up choosing
this pale seafoam faille, and was thrilled to get about 15 yards of it
along with at least the same amount of vibrant chlorophyll green
shantung silk. The donor was an event planner who used them to decorate
spaces, hence the extravagant amounts. This will allow me to do
something really spectacular, since I can't generally afford to buy nice
fabrics in those amounts.

The faille looks a little bluer than it actually is--has a more minty tone in real life.

I don't want to create a fully historical garment or interpret the theme
too literally though. The look I'm going for is late 1950's early
1960's vintage--very tailored dressmaking with the hair up in a twist,
opera gloves, and some kind of beaded clutch.

At first I thought I'd do something similar to this--double breasted
with a stand away neckline, but full length. The lining would have been
the emerald silk, and I considered doing an emerald gown underneath. I
wanted to do emerald beading all over the front of the coat and over
one of the shoulders.

But then I decided that I wanted to do something extreme with tons of volume.

This golden YSL opera coat from
the collection of Mrs. Thomas L. Kempner already looks like it
could have been inspired by the painting. It's quite similar to what I am imagining for the outerwear.

Except
I think
I'm going to do it with 3/4 length sleeves that are very loose at the
hem, as opposed to fitting closely around the forearm. The fullness will
be created using cartridge pleats, since that's what's on the back of
her garment in the painting.

Depending
on the gown, I might even do a funky coordinating hat like the one the
man in the red jacket has on in this other Vermeer painting called The Procuress. Then the look would be more mid-late sixties.

Wait...is
he grabbing her boob? Ooh. Well yes, apparently he is--Wikipedia
tells me that this is a brothel scene. And I learned that there are not
one but two women in this painting.

Who knew that Discarded to Divine would lead an education on the popularity of Dutch Bordeeltjes in 17th century? Here's a particularly creepy German example from the 15th century.

Here are some rough sketches that I have so far.

You
want to know something crazy? I made this beaded trim ages ago, and I
bought the lace to go with it, but I never figure out exactly what to
use it for. Having this on hand makes me feel ahead of the game.
Unfortunately this is a terrible terrible photo. I'll have to take one
with the good camera.

Here's a cartridge pleat sample that I did last night.

And an experiment for the cowl on the coat

If you can't tell, I'm super excited about this project, and since the semester just ended, I'll be able to devote the kind of attention to it that it deserves.

But the best part? If you're a designer anywhere near the San Francisco Bay Area, you can do it too! They have some really awesome donations of fabric and clothing just waiting to be turned into something fabulous. Because it's still early in the process, it isn't all picked over. There's a bolt of orange cotton velvet, a bolt of something striped like a pink seersucker but heavier and without the bubbling, huge bags of fleece scraps in several different colors, and much more.

Sally Rosen is the contact person (415-552-5561 X306), and you'll need to call her and make an appointment to go search through what they have set aside for the event. I know I posted the link already at the top, but here it is again. Hours of the wellness center (Howard between 7th and 8th in the city) are 9am-4pm Monday through Friday. Do it for a great cause!!!